Shadows of Emotion
by Shining Zephyr
Summary: *HoratioNatalia* The connection was growing stronger. For reasons he couldn’t explain, Horatio felt as if he couldn’t let this woman out of his sight any longer.


**Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to a prosperous season of Miami that may have started weak but has apparently turned into something strong.**

**I don't own CSI: Miami. End of story. (Not really)

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Shadows of Emotion

Don't get your guard down. That's what he always said. He was straightforward a majority of the time, trying to solve the cases of a new morning and attempting to catch the first time criminals. His eyes constantly hidden behind sunglasses, emotions masked by his every-day poker face, voice carefully blank for an unknown time. He was rare to really show his raw self, the one that only a select few actually knew. He didn't want to show the world his real feelings.

The night on the top floor of the lab with Natalia Boa Vista was a night he wasn't going to soon forget…

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"Horatio!"

He ducked his head and hid a soft smile as his youngest crime scene investigator ran up to meet him. She looked harried from a long day of processing DNA- yet she didn't complain. It was what she did best. Fieldwork was one of her other specialties; after all, she had a knowledge of it ever since she stepped into her first crime scene. He had seen something special in her, and it wasn't just in the line of duty.

Somehow, he felt a much deeper connection to Natalia than he had ever felt when they had been together. His head lifted up, his face a blank slate. "Natalia," he acknowledged as he watched the numbers for the elevator going up. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Had to lock up some evidence," she replied, shrugging it off as if it was nothing. "You know, the usual."

He held in a chuckle and merely gave her one of those sideways glances he gave everyone else when on the job. "'The usual?' I didn't know you called it that now, Miss Boa Vista." His eyes traveled back to the metal doors in front of him, a cough escaping his voice. "Is that what you call everything in here now?"

She shook her head and sighed, shifting her stance. It was unnerving to be alone with her boss for the first time in a long while. The balls of her feet rocked impatiently as the numbers finally reached the twelfth floor. The doors opened, and both officers stepped inside. Horatio's hand moved for the first floor, Natalia's for the top. The lieutenant blinked as she pressed the topmost button and cast his teammate a surprised look. "Where are you headed, ma'am?"

"Every night after a stressful day at work, I usually go up to the top floor of the building," she admitted, blushing a little. "There's a door to the roof that no one really knows about. I need to catch some air on occasion, and I figure if I look over the skylight of Miami and just breathe where the smoke and cars aren't hoarding the clean air… well, you know what I mean."

Horatio ducked his head and smiled again. "Do you mind if I join you tonight?"

Natalia shook her head. "I'd love it if I had some company."

Once the elevator reached the bottom floor- a very awkward three minutes later- Horatio pressed the button for the doors to shut and looked down at the floor, his stomach churning. He knew he shouldn't have any sort of feeling for this young detective in the elevator car with him, but he couldn't help it. The connection was growing stronger. For reasons he couldn't explain, Horatio felt as if he couldn't let this woman out of his sight any longer.

She noticed this and smiled slightly. "What is it, Horatio?"

"I just feel… different around you."

Natalia blinked. Her boss sounded… shy. She gave him a glance of surprise and watched the numbers climb. "What makes me different than all the others?"

Horatio shifted slightly. "It's your eyes."

She chuckled. "My eyes. Is there something in them that is different than everyone else's? From Yelina's, Calleigh's, Alexx's?"

The door opened up to the top floor finally, and she stepped out as the redhead contemplated his answer. Following her, his voice softened more as he turned to the setting sun. "They're beautiful, compassionate eyes. As a lieutenant of Miami's CSIs, I can't help but pick out the best and brightest that apply to our lab. You're not only the best and the brightest, Miss Boa Vista- you're one of the kindest women I've ever met."

"Again, what about Yelina?"

Horatio sighed and finally took a long look at the tan-skinned lady in front of him. His lips curled into a soft, illuminating smile. "You haven't judged me."

She took a step forward and placed her hands on his chest. He didn't move to shake them off, merely cocking his head and staring into her compassionate gaze. "I've judged you many a time," she replied quietly. "You just never see it."

He waited.

"A kind man, never willing to show his real face and emotions to the world unless he's alone with someone he cares about. A lieutenant prepared to sacrifice his life for a loved one, a victim, or the dead themselves. A lost soul who has yet to find the real path he wishes to walk upon when the time is right." She looked down. "It's hard to say who you are, can be, and will become, Horatio. No one can really say now."

For a moment, not a sound was heard. It was as if the world had stopped moving at these words.

Then, like a child not wishing to waste his love on someone who could not have cared less, Horatio wrapped his arms around Natalia. She didn't push away, her face flushing a shade of pink. "Such a sudden gesture, don't you think?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure if you'd call it that," he whispered. "I prefer to think of it as 'showing my real emotions.'"

The last rays of sun finally dipped behind the horizon, and Horatio had never felt so alive. With only a woman and a cityscape of a place he loved, he stroked her hair and wrapped his arms around her more. His chin rested on top of her head, and she smiled under his protective embrace.

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**Haha. Friendly and light romantic friendship. Enjoyed it? I know I did.**


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